Belarus, the EU Parliament votes against Lukashenko and the League abstains. Where is the news?

Poll: it is news that the European Parliament calls for EU sanctions against the Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko and condemn the violent repressions of popular protests that take place for more than a month? Or is it news that the League abstained while M5s, Pd, Fi, Fdi and all of them were in favor?

In my opinion, neither one thing nor the other is news: the European Parliament he could not avoid giving his opinion on what is happening in a country on the borders of the Union, where a battle for democracy is being fought; and the League could not take sides against the Russian president Vladimir Putin, North Star – and perhaps even paid officer – of his foreign policy (and ‘Uncle Vladi’ is the protector deity of the Belarusian despot).

The emphasis on the Parliament vote and the scandal over the abstention of the Lega are therefore exaggerated and substantive, in my opinion. The resolution, approved with 574 yes, 37 no and 82 abstentions, leaves the time it finds, because the foreign policy decisions of the European Union must be adopted by the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the 27.

The Assembly rejected i official results of the Belarusian presidential elections of August 9, elections that were held “in flagrant violation of all internationally recognized norms.” When Lukashenko’s term – “authoritarian leader” – expires on November 5, Parliament will no longer recognize him as the country’s president.

The opportunity to translate Parliament’s wishes into a decision of the 27 could come after the EU’s “Foreign Minister” Josep Borrell and the foreign ministers of the countries of the Union will have seen, on Monday, in Brussels, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, leader of the Belarusian opposition, who will also be received by the President of the Assembly David sassoli.

It is illusory to hypothesize that Lukashenko is taking a step back, having had Putin’s explicit endorsement in Soci. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry considers the resolution of the Strasbourg Parliament to be “explicitly aggressive” and “not constructive”. “We are disappointed – he says in a note – that the MEPs they failed to find the political will to look beyond their noses and overcome bias and not become hostages to commonplaces ”. Diplomatic cheek? Minsk has the support of Moscow and does not feel pressure from Washington, which pays little attention to Belarusian events.

Westerners, assuming it still makes sense to talk about “we Westerners”, have stopped wanting to export democracy on the tips of the bayonets: after the Second World War, when we had it, in fact they had it – they, the Allies – defended it from Nazism and fascism, there has been no successful attempt of this kind, from Cuba to Vietnam , from Afghanistan to Iraq.

Now, we are tempted to try sanctions, always starting from Cuba to Venezuela, from Iran to Russia. But it’s not that it works much better. There is a risk thata Belarus reveals another hole in the water. LThe example, which eventually played a role in the fall of communism, might work better, especially around the time of globalization and instant communication, also known as “global village”.

But here the donkey falls, in fact the leader: Lukashenko and Putin and also the Chinese Xi Jinping and many other authoritarian satraps will be bad from the point of view of democracy, but if the West offers conspiracy models to Triumph or deniers to the Bolsonaro there is little to expect from the example; in fact, it is to be hoped that our “heroes” are not contagious, politically speaking.